Frostburg State excited about hosting first conference tournament game in school history

Edward Lee, The Baltimore Sun

Frostburg State took all the guesswork out of its placement in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament, thrashing Wesley, 17-9, last Saturday to capture the No. 4 seed.

Not only did the Bobcats improve to 11-5 overall and 3-3 in the league, but they earned the right to play host to Mary Washington (8-6, 2-4) in a first-round game in the conference tournament for the first time in school history. Had the team lost to the Wolverines Saturday, Frostburg State still would have earned the No. 4 seed thanks to its head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles. But coach Tommy Pearce was happy that the team seized its own destiny.

“There could have been a lot of scenarios if we had lost that one,” he said Tuesday morning. “There could have been three teams with three losses, andit was probably going to come down to a coin flip, and we might have had to go on the road. It was good that we won that game and that we took care of getting another home game. We really wanted to come out and make sure that we got that for us and our fans.”

The Bobcats will meet Mary Washington after securing a 13-11 win against the Eagles last Wednesday. It’s a different experience for the program, which has never met one team twice in a single season.

“This is our first time in the postseason,” Pearce said. “Obviously, we looked at the film and started talking about what we had success with in the first game and where we gave up some goals. There might be a little more game planning because not only do we see their film against other teams, but we also see how it played out directly against us. We’re trying not to over-think it too much because it is a new experience for us. Mary Washington, I imagine, has been in the playoffs every year for a while, and this is our first time. So it’s kind of a new experience for us, and we just want to make sure that our guys feel prepared and not at a disadvantage because this is their first time there.”

If Frostburg State can get past Mary Washington again, the team would meet top seed and reigning national champion Salisbury (13-4, 6-0) in a tournament semifinal this Saturday. The Bobcats are aiming to prolong their season.

“We achieved our goal, and we were excited about that,” Pearce said. “But I quickly wanted to make sure that we set our sights on our next goal so that we just didn’t feel like we achieved all of our goals. We’ve got a big game tomorrow, and we want to keep this season going as long as we can.”